1/26/2007

Poland Open To US Missile Shield Talks, But Outcome Still Open

Poland will not turn down any US request for negotiations regarding the stationing of National Missile Defence (NMD) or anti-missile shield bases in Poland, but the outcome of any such talks is still an open matter, Poland's Minister of Defence Radoslaw Sikorski said Thursday in Warsaw.

"When a serious ally requests talks, naturally we do not refuse, but this in no way determines their result," Sikorski said, quoted by the Polish PAP news agency.

Poland expects the United States to open exploratory talks on the possible stationing of US National Missile Defence (NMD) bases in Poland within two weeks "at the latest," a senior foreign ministry official had said Monday.

The US has confirmed its intentions to begin talks on stationing NMD bases with the Czech Republic, according to Monday's reports.

Unconfirmed reports last year alleged Pentagon officials had already been scouting the Tatra Mountains skirting the Polish-Czech border for possible missile base sites.

Although open to talks on the matter, last year Poland's President Lech Kaczynski expressed doubt over giving the US full sovereignty and diplomatic and legal jurisdiction over any eventual base locations in Poland.

Defence Minister Sikorski previously insisted the US would have to give Poland security guarantees before stationing any NMD bases on its soil.

Last March Polish media reported that Pentagon experts favoured Poland as a potential location for the overseas portion of the NMD missile shield project, dubbed "Son of Star Wars" by critics.

The US-based NMD plan is designed to protect it and fellow NATO defence alliance members plus Japan from a potential nuclear missile attack by rogue states.

The idea first emerged in the US under Republican President Ronald Reagan during the Cold War confrontation with the Soviet Union. His Strategic Defence Initiative, was popularly dubbed "Star Wars."

Since shedding communism in 1989, Poland has been among the closest US allies in Europe. A NATO member since 1999, it was an ardent supporter of the US-led 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Source:playfuls.com



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